NEWSLETTER

Transcription

NEWSLETTER

S u mm e r 2 0 1 3
Texere Newsletter summer 2013
Textiles Education and Research in Europe
www.texere-associ.org
A Textiles Education Working Group
Within the European Textiles Network
www.ETN-net.org
Bedrijfsnaam, adres, postcode, plaats
URL website, e-mailadres, telefoonnummer
NEWSLETTER
Contents
Letter from the Chair
Creatextil 2013 Report
Creadores Textiles Conference
Tiessi- Tradition and Creativity
Traditional and Nuno Felting by Future Designers
IKEA Idea
CAMAC, The 1st Student Textile Challenge
St Petersburg Textiles Now
Lefkara Lace
Valcellina Award 2013, Ninth Edition
Celebrating the Centenary of Art Deco Project
Patricia Christy, England
Lala de Dios, Spain
Carmen Romeo, Italy
Maia Sharabidze, Georgia
Katya Oicherman, Israel
Caroline McNamara, England
Marina Chekmareva, Russia
Julia Astreou Christoforou, Cyprus
Le Arti Tessili, Italy
e Premio Valcellina Award splits up
Letter from the Chair of TEXERE
Dear Members of TEXERE,
It was very nice to meet some of our ETN/ TEXERE
members in Madrid in May. We enjoyed a very
interesting 3 days during the Creatextil event which
was well organised by Lala de Dios, President of ETN
and a member of TEXERE. Some of us were able to
spend a few extra days exploring the beautiful city and,
as we were staying in the same hotel, we had plenty of
opportunity to network. You can read all about it in my
report which is illustrated with photographs taken by
some of our members. Hannelore Kapuste has also
made a page of photographs for the website.
In the last Newsletter I told you about Hannelore’s
excellent work for the website and the new Gallery of
members’ work. We have a few new contributions to
this and more will be added soon, but it would be nice
to have even more. So don’t be shy, let us see yours
and your students’ work. She has also created a new
TEXERE information leaflet which is now translated
into German, Italian and Spanish as well as being in
English. If you would like a copy of this I can e-mail it to
you and if you would like to translate it into other
languages that would be fine.
I also announced the Art Deco Project to which a few
have responded intending to submit their students’
work but it would be nice to have more individual
members submitting their work as well. The results will
be exhibited at the Morley College Art Gallery in
London in June 2014. You will find the design brief
again in this Newsletter with some revised information
and dates which will give you longer to make your
scarves.
The Press release for the next Premio Valcellina Award
in Italy is also included here.
As usual we have several interesting articles, most of
them about the work of students. Carmen Romeo
announced her new Adult Education course in weaving
in Udine, Italy earlier this year and now we can read
about and see the results of the first session. Maia
Sharabidze of Georgia tells us about the felting and
dyeing work with her students, Katya Oichermann of
Israel describes the IKEA project which her students
took part in and Caroline McNamara informs us about
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the CAMAC 1 and 2 Student Textile Challenges. We
can also read the presentation which our new member
Marina Chekmareva gave in Madrid, about the work of
textile artists in St. Petersburg. Julia Astreou
Chistoforou informs us about a film that has been made
about Lefkara Lace in Cyprus.
There are still a few members who have not paid this
year’s 20 euro TEXERE fee and they have not told me
they wish to end their membership. If you have a Paypal
account you may pay the fee directly to me through my
e-mail address, or you may use the other methods of
payment listed in the Contacts page of the website.
Those who do not pay after this Newsletter will no
longer receive future editions and will be considered to
have ended their membership.
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The deadline for the next Newsletter is 15
September.
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CREATEXTIL 2013 REPORT
by Lala de Dios, Spain
Organized by the Asociación de Creadores Textiles de
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Madrid, Actm, to celebrate its 25 anniversary this textile
meeting brought together nearly 100 participants who
met at the Museo del Traje (Museum of Costume) from
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May 31 to June 2nd. Among them there were some 16
ETN members who had come for our network’s General
Assembly, many also taking part in the programme of
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presentations of the event. Previously, on May 30 there
were also activities: two very interesting visits to the
textile collections of the National Museum of Decorative
Arts (who organized a special display for Creatextil
participants) and the Instituto Valencia de Don Juan, the
opening of Suave 5 and a welcome dinner.
The program of talks aimed to show the richness and
variety of textile practice today. Accordingly it was long
and varied, running from presentations by organizations
about their current projects (ETN, Texere, WTA,
Valcellina Award, Contextile) to individual projects and
experiences. The result was as rich and exciting as
textiles are. To quote only a few, the audience admired
the precisely designed tapestry-woven Op Art works by
Armenian artist Marina Mamyan, the open air basketry
sculptures by Carlos Fontales / Joan Farré and Maïté
Tanguy’s (F) weavings for the haute-couture and
responded to tapestry weaver and activist Andrea Milde’s
vibrant allegation in defence of culture in this time of
crisis with spontaneous applause.
The highlights of the program were, undoubtedly, the two
panel discussions. The first one on the topic Textile
Practice Today was preceded by a lecture by Lala de
Dios to provide some theoretical antecedents and to
frame the discussion. Participants in this panel were a
mix of well-known textile artists and designers backed by
a long professional trajectory and young designers plus
representatives from an Urban Knitting group very active
in Madrid. It became a lively conversation among
different practices and different ways of telling about it
with a generation gap to add some flavour; it would seem
that we elders care more about content (meaning design
and
craftsmanship)
while
youngsters
place
communication through the Internet and social media as
their absolute priorityFeven if sometimes they do not
have much to tell about it. It certainly aroused the interest
of the audience who would have liked to hear more on
this. The second panel was devoted to the topic of
Natural Dyeing with experts Nilia Bañares, Marie-Noëlle
Vacher and Ana Roquero talking about traditional dyes in
the Canary Islands, dyeing with fungi and some
sustainability issues raised by the use /abuse of natural
dyes.
Creatextil closed with a get-together on Sunday morning
in the Museo del Traje gardens with demonstrations and
workshops of several textile crafts and merry gossip all
around. It was fun, the sun was shining and one could
see many smiles and feel the sense of energy and
community. To me it was clear that the meeting had
reached its main goal!
Lala de Dios, president of the ETN
[email protected]
Creatextil
Creadores Textiles Conference,
Madrid
30th May -2nd June 2013
by Patricia Christy
The ETN/TEXERE members were invited by Lala de
Dios, President of ETN and a member of TEXERE, to
take part in the Creadores Textiles Conference in Madrid
so that we could have our General Assemblies. As it was
not a major ETN conference and most of it was in
Spanish, with some English translations, there were not
so many members as we usually have at our
conferences. Nevertheless it was a very enjoyable and
interesting occasion and most of the ETN/TEXERE
members who were there gave presentations.
Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas
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Textile Collections Thursday 30 May
Separate guided tours for the Spanish and the English
speaking participants were arranged to two textile
collections which are not normally available for the
general public. The first visit was to Museo Nacional Des
Artes Decorativas where we saw part of the textiles
collections which are not displayed in the main rooms
because of lack of space. Our very knowledgeable guide,
Who spoke quite good English, was assisted by an
English lady, Susan Bennett who lives in Spain. We
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started on the 4 floor where the room was lined with
floor to ceiling pull out racks containing samples of
brocades, embroidered fabric, braids, lace and Black
Work. We then went to a lower floor where our guide had
laid out various small embroidered items such as purses,
bags, collars, braids and fragments of colourful woven or
embroidered fabrics.
Museo/Instituto Valencia De Don Juan
Then we went to the Museo/Instituto Valencia De Don
Juan, a very beautiful large town house, erected in the
neomuajar style (Moorish influences) in 1914, where
Don Guillermo de Osma and his wife the Countess de
Valencia de Don Juan had created a museum in1916 to
host their collections of decorative arts. It was declared of
cultural interest in the 1980’s but is only open to the
public by appointment. The collections included Spanish
Islamic silks, carpets, embroideries, and lace. A room full
of Moorish tiles was decorated in the Moorish style with
beautiful white filigree archways. There are also books
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from the 17 and 18 century and medieval manuscripts
in a small library where people may go, by appointment,
to study. We were shown around the museum by the
director Ms Cristina Partearroyo, an art historian and
textile specialist, with an English speaking Spanish
member of ETN, to translate for us.
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In the evening we returned to the Museo Nacional de
Artes Decorativas for the opening of the Suave 5
International exhibition. This is a triennial exhibition for
which participants submitted textile fashion accessories:
hats, fans, bags, scarves, jewellery, headdresses,
shawls, etc. There were 94 applications from 22 countries
all over the world. From these 44 were selected from 19
countries for the exhibition, together with work from 11
invited artists. Sustainability was present in the
handmade pieces and in others the recycling of objects
such as maps, can ring pulls, electrical components,
printing on recycled scarves, the use of string, etc. The
work was very varied, particularly in the scarves or
shawls with wet felting and nuno felting techniques,
weaving, printing, knitting, pleated woven techniques,
discharge printing, silk painting and laid yarns. Some of
the textile artists were present so it was interesting to talk
to them about their work.
Afterwards we all went to a nearby restaurant for an
excellent meal.
Opening Suave 5 exhibition
Left-right Marina Chekmareva, Russia, Patricia Christy, Diana Springall,
and Elena Tkachenko Russia with her shawl
Suave 5 exhibition
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Suave 5 exhibition
Suave 5 exhibition
Suave 5 exhibition
Suave 5 exhibition
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Friday 31 May
On Friday morning the English speaking group met at the
Museo de Traje for a tour of the costume collection. It is a
very attractive modern museum where the costumes
were very well displayed. The collection takes one on a
journey from the beginning of clothing, through the
centuries to the work of modern fashion designers. I was
hoping to see more traditional Spanish costumes but
there were only a very few of these, though some of the
European styles did have a little Spanish influence. Most
of the collection showed the history of costumes and
accessories which one can see in costume museums
around Europe. The contemporary fashion designers
included Spanish born Mariano Fortuny, Balenciaga and
Paco Rabanne as well as Dior, Chanel, Lanvin, YSL,
Miyake, Yamamoto, Comme des Garçons, Martin
Margiela amongst others. There was also an exhibition of
fashions by young Spanish fashion students.
After the costume tour the ETN members held their
General Assembly which you can read about in the ETN
Newsletter. In the afternoon TEXERE also had their
General meeting, the Minutes of which will be sent to
members with the Newsletter.
The Creatextile conference was formally opened in the
evening with a welcome by Lala de Dios. Then ten
speakers gave their presentations which were supposed
to last for 10 minutes, but some took rather longer.
Some of the TEXERE members were amongst those who
spoke. Caroline McNamara spoke about her CAMAC
project in which over 200 textile students from the UK
and Ireland took part in the First CAMAC Students
Design Competition inspired by historical textiles from the
Warner Textile Archive in Braintree, Essex, England,
which some of you visited during the ETN conference in
2007. She had several examples of the winners for
people to view later in the evening.
One of our new members, Marina Chekmareva from St.
Petersburg, gave a panoramic view of the textile artists
who work at present in St. Petersburg and studied the
relationship between Russian and European schools.
This was followed by Julia Astreou Christoforous’ account
of her textile workshop in Cyprus, which is located in a
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traditional 19 century family home given over to the
study, conservation and development of traditional
Cypriot textiles. You may read about this in the February
2008 edition of TEXERE News.
I was asked by Le Arti Tessili to speak about the
Valcellina Award which you can read about in this
Newsletter.
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Saturday 1 June
Lala de Dios opened the session on Saturday with a
presentation on Textile Practice Today during which she
analysed the different approaches to textile practice from
all levels of artists and designers from studio artists to
craft street markets. She explored the effect of the
current DIY boom on traditional crafts and the role of the
internet on the new forms of association and networking.
This was followed by a panel discussion among
participants who might be members of such groups and
where they put their focus on their textile work.
Silk screen printing and silk painting, the Urban Knitting
Movement, Shibori, hand-weaving, knitting and crochet
installations in public places, bag designing, and
exhibiting to sell were amongst the other wide ranging
subjects. Dorothy Wedderburn of ETN spoke about the
arts collective she belongs to and her up-cycled garments
and I spoke about TEXERE and the Art Deco project.
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Sunday 2 June
On Sunday Morning there were craft demonstrations and
workshops outside the Museo de Traje, with many
enthusiastic observers and participants. These included
silk painting, crochet from multi-coloured fleece, bobbin
lace, patchwork, making cakes from fabric and Shibori.
In our free time we enjoyed exploring the beautiful city of
Madrid with its fine architecture, wide tree lined
boulevards and squares, art galleries such as the Prado
and the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, the splendid Royal
Palace and Cathedral and several large parks, two of
them with beautiful rose gardens.
Textile artists in St Petersburg
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TIESSI* - tradition and creativity
Weaving and Textile Design Workshop
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Exhibition 28 May-30 September 2013
Hall of the University of LiberEtà del Friuli Venezia Giulia,
Udine (ITALY)
*Tiessi, in Friulian, the language of our Region Friuli
Venezia Giulia, corresponds to the verb "to weave"
In the exhibition TIESSI the results of two adult education
training courses, which last for four months are shown.
They are named “TIESSI. Tradition and Creativity,
Laboratory of Weaving and Textile Design”. Completely
dedicated to textile art, they were offered for the first time
by the University of the LiberEtà of Udine. Lessons
started at the beginning of February 2013 and were
attended by thirty one people. The project is financially
supported by the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, which is
interested in enhancing and increasing the knowledge
about local textile culture, both to make people conscious
of the possibility to use these resources - almost
unknown – in order to increase new design and a modern
production. For this reason they are open to all, but
priority of enrolling is given to young graduates and entry
to people in search of employment.
Giuseppina Raso - visita a TIESSI
TIESSI courses have been planned and edited by
Carmen Romeo dal Bò, who also teaches them; they
offer a space to think, create and make, dedicated to the
development of artistic textiles projects, where the main
goal is to stimulate and develop creativity, planning and
manual skills. In the course a large amount of time is
given to the design and free experimentation of materials
and techniques. Furthermore, particular attention is paid
to the art of the twentieth century and to the textile culture
and traditions of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Italian Region.
The course is also aimed at those who wish to be
supported in the creation of a personal textile project
(e. g. tapestry, fabric for furniture, clothing accessories).
Exploring and getting to know textile art has been very
Exciting for people who had almost never heard or
practiced anything about textile techniques before. The
University of LiberEtà is a cultural association legally
recognized in Udine, founded in July 23, 1993. For
twenty years, it has been successfully operating in the
field of continuing education, training and adult
education. Its main objectives are the following:
• to be a cultural and educational resource for the
whole community;
• to increase the cultural horizons ranging from
traditional culture to new and alternative forms of
knowledge
• to innovate teaching methods focusing on the
data that the cognitive modifiability is possible at
any age, to spread Adult Education in Italy and
Europe.
From 100 members of the first year of activity, the
s
number has grown to nearly 4,000 since the early 2000 .
Currently there are 3,500 members who attend more than
600 courses offered in the following areas; general
knowledge, gymnastics and dance, psychology and
health, computer technology, foreign languages, cooking,
music and singing, arts and crafts workshops.
For further information it is possible to contact:
Mrs. Giuseppina Raso, President
Università delle LiberEtà del F. V. G.
Via Napoli 4 – 33100 Udine – ITALY
Tel. + 0432297909
E-mail. [email protected], [email protected]
Web-site: http://www.libereta-fvg.it
Mrs. Carmen Romeo dal Bò
Course “TIESSI. Tradition and creativity, Weaving
and Textile Design”
E-mail: [email protected]
www.tiessilabo.blogspot.it
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Traditional and Nuno Felting Made by
Future Designers
by prof. Maia Sharabidze Kutaisi State University,
Georgia
Felt is a traditional Georgian product and for several
centuries it is known that felted hats and caps- Nabadihave been made. In connection with the prospect of the
development of tourism and the preservation of national
identity among the young people, there is a growing
interest in traditional crafts. Particular interest has been
shown in national felting. Students learn the technique of
felting as well as the technical preparations and colouring
of wool by natural and synthetic dyes. Recently, interest
has grown in nuno felting.
Nuno felting is a wool felting technique with fabric. In
Japanese "Nuno" is a fabric and materials which may be
used are natural silk, fine wool, linen, cotton and rayon,
etc. In the process of felting, the woollen fibres penetrate
through the fabric, interlock with each other and
transform the fabric into a new structure. The technique
was developed by the Australian textile designer and
artist of wool from New South Wales, Polly Stirling with
Sachiko Kotak in 1994.
Natural fabrics are most often used in nuno-felting (silk,
chiffon, crepe de Chine, fine linen or cotton) with a rather
"loose" structure for the free entry of wool fibres through
the fabric. However, in practice, almost all fabric may be
felted, perhaps needing only more effort and the desire to
get a particular effect. Thus, the wool may cover the
entire surface of the fabric taken as a base, or fabric may
show through wool, creating a bizarre texture and
pattern, adding unusual colour schemes.
1a) Jackets and scarves made of nuno-felt
The Nuno-felt technique is very simple and exciting at the
same time. In a few words: wool fibres are placed on the
fabric in the form of a thin layer over the entire surface, or
in certain areas (it all depends on the desired result), and
moistened with warm soapy water. After this, wool is
felted into the fabric by the "rubbing". The degree of
"rubbing" determines the penetration of wool into the
fabric.
As a base material we mainly use hand-knitted cotton
cloth. Woollen fibers for the nuno-felt are dyed by the
students with an original method developed by us. It is
known that colouring using direct dyes is characterized
by a low degree of durability to wet processing, light and
weather. We use a new mordant – borax for increasing
the stability. Before dyeing we process the fibres in
borax. Research showed that on the surface of boron
coated fibres an additional connecting centre is formed
among the molecules of the fibres and dyes. Colourings
received in such conditions are characterized by the
raised indicators of stability to mechanical and wet
processing, light, microbes and weather.
1b) Jackets and scarves made of nuno-felt
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The pictures show a variety of products made by
students - future designers in the traditional technique of
felting, as well as nuno felting on the cotton and hand made knitwear (teachers R. Bochorishvili, K.Goginovi).
Products shown in pic.1 (a-d) use a base fabric of painted
artificial wool and the felt on them is made from woolen
fibre dyed using our technology.
Accessories shown on pic.2 use a base fabric of cotton
jersey, painted by us. It should be noted that the knitted
cotton is made by our students. In particular the students
carry out washing, dyeing and finishing of the fabric. We
developed original technologies for these operations.
2) Accessories made of nuno-felt
The fabric for a panel “Fine Fairy Tale-Childhood” is
made of a woollen yarn. The yarn is painted by a method
of nodal dyeing. The technology of dyeing in this case is
based on our development. (pic.3)
1c) Jackets and scarves made of nuno-felt
picture 3. Felt panel “Fine fairy tale-Childhood”
1d) Jackets and scarves made of nuno-felt
The research work carried out in the department is a
development of the technology of dyeing of wool by
natural dyes and making the felt with the application of
these materials.
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IKEA-IDEA: Students of Textile
Design in Shenkar present a
collaborative project with IKEA Israel
by Katya Oicherman, Israel
The final year students of the department of Textile
Design, Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art,
present works created during the collaborative project
with IKEA Israel. The exhibition ‘IKEA-IDEA’ runs till the
19th of May 2013 at the entrance of the IKEA store in
Natanya. 23 selected works are on show, exploring the
latest motto of the IKEA catalogue: IKEA Textile: ‘change
the look without breaking the bank’.
products, developing new ones and creatively exploring
the qualities of printed, knitted and woven fabrics.
Mr. Uri Tzaig, Head of the Department of Textile
Design in Shenkar:
‘In this unique opportunity to trace the design values of
IKEA, including functionality and ethical use of raw
materials and production processes, the students of the
Department of Textile Design succeeded to offer a range
of variations to the existing products or presented entirely
new ones. The entire project is characterized by an
innovative and fresh thinking and adaptation to the local
Israeli spirit.’
The participating students worked within a predefined
time framework and budget. Each of the participants has
chosen a specific textile-related product in the store and
developed a new interpretation of it. The exhibited works
were selected for their high quality, originality of approach
and in-depth exploration of the IKEA vision of affordable
solutions for better living. The exhibited works deal with
home and kitchen textiles, soft storage, light and
ambience, and IKEA oriented fashion, changing existing
Mr. Shlomi Gabbay, CEO IKEA Israel:
‘The collaboration with Shenkar, which provides an
academic interpretation of the design vision of a brand, is
a unique point of view to be developed on the brand. I am
proud and excited to find out that the delightful outcomes
offer creative and functional interpretation to the selected
IKEA products, which represent the diversity of the store.
I am grateful to Shenkar for standing up to the challenge
and to the students for their inspiring, dedicated and
uncompromising effort.’
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1st CAMAC Student Textile Design
Challenge
by Caroline McNamara, England
Photography: Ben Taylor
Developed in association with the Warner Textile Archive,
Braintree – the Student Textile Challenge drew on the
theme of ‘Archives’. Aimed originally at Textile students
studying at Foundation level, the Challenge captured the
imagination of course tutors and students at other levels
of study. Over 200 students entered the challenge from
colleges and universities across Britain and Ireland. Each
student was given a copy of a piece of design history
housed at Warner Textile Archive. From this they were
asked to draw inspiration and then to produce an
innovative and contemporary mixed media textile-related
response. The textile and paper document sources for
the challenge included work from designers who helped
Warner & Son to push the boundaries of national textile
design. The entries were professionally judged by
Patricia Christy, Mary Schoeser and Kate Wigley from the
Warner Textile Archive.
The Braintree Museum in Essex
Prizes included producing a collection of 12 Postcards
from the entries to be sold through the Braintree Museum
where an exhibition of work was displayed during
May/June 2013. A selection of work will also be exhibited
at the Morley Gallery in London, throughout September
during London Design Festival.
Newham College students in front of selected work, close up of archival
fabric from the Warner Textile Archive
CAMAC Postcard collection – winning designs
included students’ work from Leeds College of Art,
London College of Communication, Morley College,
London, UCA Farnham and Crawford College, Cork,
Ireland.
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Internal view of the exhibition
2 CAMAC Textile Challenge - Art Deco: The Spirit of
the Age
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Patricia Christy on judging day
AS PART OF TEXERE/ETN WHY NOT JOIN US IN
THIS WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY
Glamour, elegance, functionality, modernity. Art Deco
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started before the 1 World War and burst onto the scene
at the 1925 Decorative Arts Exhibition in Paris; spanned
the roaring ‘20s and the depression of the ‘30s. We have
a continuing collaboration between CAMAC and the
Warner Textile Archive. Devised to coincide with the Art
Deco theme in the current TEXERE project, the Warner
Textile Archive is again supplying a range of designs for
students to use, reflecting the diversity of inspiring
resource material from this period.
It is suitable for mixed media textile groups (aged 16+),
courses that incorporate a Design/Textile module in their
programme and for TEXERE participants who can
become part of the Guest Designer section.
Exhibitions/Events & Opportunities for 2014
•
•
•
•
•
The Jersey Textile Showcase, Channel Islands
March 2014
The Morley Gallery, London, June 2014 where
TEXERE and CAMAC plan to exhibit together
Braintree Museum,
Overseas exhibition planned
3 student Cash prizes of 75 EUROS plus
products
Cards and other prizes to be confirmed
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL
[email protected]
12
St. Petersburg Textiles Now
by Dr. Marina Chekmareva, St Petersburg, Russia
According to the concept of Emperor Peter I, St.
Petersburg was designed as an ideal empire capital.
Since the foundation of the city in 1703, due to its
particular energy and multi-nationality, different cultures
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have been blending here organically. Since the early 18
century the Fine Arts were one of the priorities in St.
Petersburg, as well as creating its own school. The best
local and foreign artists were invited to work here.
Of interest is the history of the textile arts in St.
Petersburg. In 1717, only 14 years after the foundation of
the city, the famous St. Petersburg tapestry manufactory
was set up. As early as 1741, the manufactory drawing
school, the first art school, was opened. In 1757, the
Russian Academy of Arts, which is still the major fine arts
university in the country, was founded.
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In the second half of the 18 century, the heyday of the
tapestry art, the professors of the Academy of Arts were
supervising the artistic issues at the manufactory, while
the best artists were working at the cartoons there. In
1876 by decree of Emperor Alexander I, the School of
Technical Drawing was founded, which is known today as
The Saint Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy,
named after Alexander von Stieglitz. Since the middle of
the 20th century, when the Department of Textile Arts
was opened, it has been training the artists who are
known not only in Russia but worldwide. Later on, similar
departments were established in the State Pedagogical
University and in the Institute of Design and Applied Art.
Thus, there is a long and rich tradition of textile and fine
arts in Saint Petersburg, as well as many highly qualified
textile artists.
The unusual mix of weaving techniques, threads of
different texture, bright silk and dull cotton, geometry and
the preference for the bigger scale, which are all
characteristic of the works of Migal, also single out the
tapestry of another bright representative of the older
generation, Arsen Kardashev. However, unlike Boris,
Arsen extensively employs bright colours in his work.
Born in the Caucasus, the republic of Dagestan, he
moved to St. Petersburg to study textiles. Arsen
combines the ornamental decorativeness of the East, the
elegance of line and the special St. Petersburg austerity
and delicacy. Influenced by Sandro Botticelli’s art, the
artist tends to be working now mostly in the technique of
cold batik. His textile paintings, colourful at one time, can
be almost graphic another time, when the emphasis is on
a free, melodious and flexible line. Arsen always
achieves the transparency and sonority of colour. He
uses the specific capacity of silk to render the warmth of
the human body, the tenderness and softness of human
skin, which makes his works inimitably touching and
attractive. It is impossible to take your eyes off the works
of Arsen when they are sunlit.
The third representative of the older generation, whose
work I would like to introduce to you today is Elena
Shnaider. She brilliantly combines an interest for the
traditional technique of handprint by means of paper
stencils and a passion for experiments – a combination of
printed pattern with painting. One of the facets of the
work of the artist is the painted fabric for the museums of
Russia and private interiors. Elena both recreates
Still, in my opinion, one cannot speak of the St.
Petersburg School of Textiles, since it is a complex and
multifaceted phenomenon. Among the high class
professionals stands out a constellation of big artists. St.
Petersburg is a multicultural city, and an artist who lives
there preserves the traits of different cultures in their
work. On the other hand, living in it and being inspired by
its unique atmosphere, masters take communion to its
life, and their works acquire some similar traits, such as
fine taste, exquisiteness, and reserve, which sometimes
borders on austerity or even asceticism.
The one who contributed most to the creation of the
unique Petersburg style in textile was Boris Migal.
(You may see and read about his work in the Autumn
2012 edition of TEXERE Newsletter) His work in teaching
for many years at the Department of Textiles in the
Academy, named after Stieglitz, greatly influenced the
masters of the middle and younger generation. Migal
stepped aside from the traditional understanding of
tapestry as a kind of painting in textiles and started
creating the modern tapisserie.
Aleksandra Yakunicheva
13
expressiveness of this technique, which allows her to
create both medallions and mini-compositions, historical
patterns and makes her own designer’s patterns based
on her fantasy. She achieved utter monumental
compositions, and friezes, both decorative works and
easel paintings.
decorative sounding of the surface. Apart from that, the
scarves are extremely pleasant to wear due to the blend
of such fabrics as wool, cotton, lurex, and other materials.
Thus, her works are both utilitarian and artistic.
Another representative of the older generation very
worthy of introduction is Aleksandra Yakunicheva. An
artist and an educator, she is the author of a programme
of teaching the basics of the art theory to children. She
created her own collage technique, the transparent
collage. To shadow-proof fabric, the artist applies several
layers of transparent materials such as tulle, lace, or
nets, thus achieving a soft, almost painting-like gradation
of one colour into another. With a strict, geometrized
composition she brings in some active colour achieving
its utmost sounding. Aleksandra manages to fill her textile
landscapes with light, bringing together an acute sense of
nature and her quick eye, the conventionality of the
decorative language and the pathos of mural art.
Speaking of the middle generation, it is hard to single out
some particular artists. Today I am going to show you the
three female artists, whose work best demonstrates the
major trends of the modern Russian textiles.
Elena Tkachenko
The first name is Elena Tkachenko – a student of Boris
Migal, who inherited the master’s love for texture and
bold experiment. She used to work in such familiar
techniques as cold batik and tapestry. However, recently
the artist has been doing work on the verge of textile art
and painting. Elena has developed a unique method of
weaving which allows her to free the warp thread and
enjoy the beauty of lush fluidity, bright and dull texture of
different fabrics, combined in one work of art. She
departs from the representational art to the domain of
pure colour, reaching the utmost emotionality of sounding
of the opulent play of colours. Another direction of her
work is creating unusual textures in palatines and
scarves. By means of a complex rhythm and a
combination of different shapes she attains a special
Tatiana Sklyarenko
Unlike Elena, another artist of this generation Tatiana
Sklyarenko relies on the national tradition in her artwork.
Preferring tapestry, she has long been experimenting
with natural dyes, dying threads by hand, which adds an
amazingly delicate, sober and harmonious colour to her
works. Tatiana chooses to work with mythological
subjects, be it the archaic Creation myths, the antique
mythology or the medieval legends. Addressing the
ancient imagery, she loads the scenes from the everyday
life with a cosmic, sometimes universal sounding. It
allows us to speak of the artist’s philosophy. In her work
Tatiana does not strictly follow the tradition, but interprets
it and makes it sound modern. For instance, she picks an
article of the Russian countryside in daily use such as a
homespun runner and makes the “Dresses” collection.
The outline of the articles reminds us of the outline of the
female body symbolizing the domestic goddess.
Preserving the rhythm of horizontals, traditional for
runners, the artist inhabits them with the nature imagery
of different seasons.
The third representative of the middle generation Zoya
Bolshakova has a different, more austere and abstract
vision. Working in such traditional techniques as painting
and crewel embroidery, she achieves special effects
using unusual materials such as tarpaulin or flax. Her
works are filled with the wonderful state of silence. The
landscapes encourage you to meditate due to the fine
balance of negative space and isolated objects, trees and
stones. Shaman drawings, dark, dilute colours make you
feel like a grain of sand, a little stone in the endless
universe. The combination of brown and red ochres, light
beige colors, that is all the colours of the earth, feels even
14
which one might sense the power of the elements, the
blasts of wind, the raging sea storm and the allconsuming waves. But these are not the depictions of
concrete landscapes, but an attempt to render some
deeply personal emotions, triggered by the observed
might. There is another sphere of Nadezhda’s work –
making designer clothes together with her parents who
are designers of clothes. There are several collections in
her account, “Stained Glass” (2009), “Plein-air” (2012),
and “The Russian Izba” (2013), in which she makes
textile accessories in different techniques, such as hot
batik, tapisserie, knitting and embroidery.
Zoya Bolshakova
warmer in the works of felt. The image of stone is
replicated in the shapes of fibula brooches and art
objects.
The artwork of Zoya Bolshakova is characterized by the
same traits as the works of the majority of the middle
generation representatives, such as the desire for
experiment with texture and technique, a combination of
representation and abstraction, and the dominance of
decorativeness.
Margarita Shirokovskih
Another representative of the younger generation is
Margarita Shirokovskih. She prefers to work with an
ascetic, sometimes austere colour palette. Her works are
based on the combination of different shades of colour,
grey and brown, as well as red ochre and terracotta.
Margarita prefers tapestry and hot batik, a technique
which is rather rare today. The artist often refers to the
language of conventional geometrizing of form. One
could sense a sort of fragmentation of the surface and
the visual image, which is in tune with the today’s
perception of the world, as if it is a flickering TV or
computer screen with a rapidly changing picture. The
artist dedicates a rather ironic project to the topical issue
of meditation about beauty. She designs decorative
textiles for the interior, in which the basis of the
ornamental motifs are the famous images of “false
beauty”, such as Mr. Pearl, the man who is wearing a
corset, the photography by Helmut Newton and the
th
depictions of the 19 century corsets.
Nadezhda Kurakova
Moving on to the younger generation of textile artists, I
would like to begin with Nadezhda Kurakova. In her
works she sets bold experiments. She interlaces strips of
aluminum like cotton or flax, and making fragments of
ceramics an organic part of a tapisserie, along with sisal,
wool and synthetics. Addressing the nature of the
Russian North, Nadezhda creates abstract images in
Thus, speaking of the younger generation of artists, one
may note some common features, such as big freedom of
choice in techniques and materials, sometimes pretty
unconventional, a search for their own style, some
strictness and austerity of the artistic language, lack of
bright color, balancing on the verge of traditional weaving
and contemporary art, both flat two dimensional and
volumetric three-dimensional works of art.
15
Finally, I would like to mention that there is an
organization in St. Petersburg called the Textilemen’s
Guild. It began its existence in 1999 with the joint
exhibitions of the graduates of the Academy named after
Mukhina. The number of its members has been growing
and now it includes representatives of different
universities. The members of this organization are the
LEFKARA
fade
LACE,
professional artists who work in different techniques and
with different materials – silk, wool, batik, felt, tapestry,
textile dolls, exclusive, printed and painted fabric. This
community allows the artists not only to exhibit their work
together, but also to exchange experiences and ideas
and excel professionally.
before memories
by Julia Astreou Christoforou, Cyprus
This is the title of a 56 minute documentary on Lefkara
Lace which was concluded recently. Lefkara Lace is the
most characteristic kind of Cypriot embroidery with its
reputation having transcended the narrow geographical
confines of the island.
Through intense research and filming the documentary
portrays the art of Lefkara Lace through the testimony of
some of the most remarkable living embroiderers.
Lefkara Embroidery consists of geometrical satin stitch
and cut and drawn designs which depend on the threads
of the fabric. The history of Lefkara Embroidery is linked
th
with Venetian Embroideries and Laces of the 16 century
and this is due to the interaction of Venetian and Cypriot
cultures which happened when the island was under
Venetian Rule.
The inclusion of Lefkara Lace in UNESCO’s Intangible
Cultural Heritage List, acts as confirmation of its value but
also as a challenge to keep it alive through adapting it to
modern times. The documentary was produced with the
support of the Ministry of Education and Culture in
Cyprus. The award winner Paschalis Papapetrou was the
director of the documentary and the scientific consultant
was Julia Astreou-Christoforou.
The documentary also portrays through photographs,
reports in the Cypriot press, and interviews with some of
the last living embroidery merchants an era in which the
Lefkara Embroidery travelled across the world.
16
Valcellina Award
Fiber Art Competition – 2013
Ninth edition
The Double – Suggestive Cultural
Between The Imaginary and Reality
Complexity
The ninth edition of the prestigious Valcellina Award, the
international contemporary fibre art competition, has
been announced. The competition theme is the following:
The Double – Suggestive Cultural Complexity Between
The Imaginary and Reality.
The interested artists are requested to submit a work
exemplifying the proposed theme with reference to
reality, cultural complexity, and symbolic dimensions.
“The Double” theme belongs to the history of thought,
ranging from the religious to the philosophic up to the
psychoanalytic one, and has always been a target of
artistic representations.
Even in its most extreme symbolic dimension, its
complexity is disturbing since it reflects the condition of a
certain kind of life and reality that refuses unilateral
visions and banal simplifications, and avails itself of
dialectically opposing mechanisms that make it
authentically alive and credible.
The exhibition of the selected works and the prize giving
ceremony will take place between April and May 2014 in
the prestigious d’Attimis Palace, in Maniago, the town of
knife production.
This event has been made possible thanks to the support
by and the cooperation with the Friuli- Venezia Giulia
Region, the town of Maniago, the Maniago Tourist Office,
the Museum of Smith Art and Knife Production in
Maniago, Crup Foundation, Udine, Main Street
S.r.l.,Prato, GraphiStudio, Arba (Pordenone), Bologna
Fine Arts Academy, Koefia Haute Couture and Art of
Costume Academy, Rome, and Lisio Foundation,
Florence.
To download the Award Regulations, please enter the
following site: www.leartitessili.it
The competition is open to all those young artists under
35 years of age (born since 1978) from all over the world.
Registration deadline is 31 December 2013.
The following prizes will be assigned: 1st Prize:1,500
euros, 2nd Prize:1,000 euros, 3rd Prize: 500 euros, 4th
Prize: 5 kilos of a textile fibre offered by Main Street S.r.l.
The first three prize winning artists will also be offered a
short scholarship (free tutoring) with the Bologna Fine
Arts Academy, Koefia Haute Couture and Art of Costume
Academy, Rome, and Lisio Foundation, Florence.
This competition takes place every two years and is
organized by Le Arti Tessili, an association of social
promotion and cultural activities with headquarters in
Maniago (Pordenone), Friuli.
The Valcellina Award is the Association’s highest effort
aiming at promoting the knowledge and interest towards
the contemporary textile art, and encouraging the new
talents.
The Valcellina Award is one of the most important events
in Italy dedicated to fibre art, a particular contemporary
art form. It has very ancient roots and is expressed by
the means of different techniques which range from
intertwining, the use of a wide range of materials,
patchwork and ready-made techniques, in other words,
all that can be symbolically referred to as a textile
process.
Over the years, this kind of art has won a standard of
absolute relevance inside the international artistic
panorama, and, further, it has become a means of
promotion for our territory.
The 4 prize winners in 2012 with the organisers of Le Arti Tessili,
Barbara Girardi, Anna Maria Poggioli, President, and Gina Morandini
17
Celebrating the Centenary of ART
DECO
New Project for TEXERE Members
by Patricia Christy- England
It was about 100 years ago that the ‘Art Deco’ period
started which also marked the beginnings of modern
design or Modernism. It was a reaction against Art
Nouveau by the avant-garde groups of artists in Europe
starting in 1909 with the arrival in Paris of the Ballets
Russes with its exotic costumes and scenery and the
influence of Paul Poiret’s innovative new fashions. It
reached its zenith around the world in the interwar years,
affecting every type of design and way of life including
architecture, interior design, graphic design, the
decorative arts, fashion, transport, etc.
Art Deco was a retrospective term coined in the 1960’s to
denote the prevalent styles of this period, but each
country had its own name for it and its own version of the
style such as the ‘Bauhaus’ in Germany, ‘The Futurists’ in
Italy, the ‘World of Art Collective’ in Russia, the Jazz Age
in America and the Cubism movement which influenced
artists all over Eastern and Western Europe. They
epitomised the new modern way of life with its sharp
geometric designs and bright colours seen in every
aspect of modern living.
Design Brief
To celebrate this centenary we are proposing a new
TEXERE project in which members and /or their student
groups from each country are asked to design and make
scarves inspired by the designs of the Art Deco Period
in their own country. The choice of scarves has been
made with consideration to the ease of storage and
transport costs.
Sizes
•
•
Square: minimum size 60 cms square, maximum
size 1 metre square
Rectangular: maximum size 1.60 X 0.50 metres.
Techniques
Any textile technique may be used e.g. weaving, felting,
printing, dyeing, batik, embroidery etc. or any
combination of these techniques.
Exhibitions
• They will be exhibited at the Morley College Art
th
Gallery in London 9th-20 June 2014.
• Hanny Spierenburg has kindly agreed that they
may also be exhibited during the International
Textile Quintennial in Leiden during the ETN
conference in May 2015.
Dates
• If you are interested in taking part in this project,
please let me know as soon as possible.
st
• The scarves must be completed by March 1
2014,
• You will be required to submit 2 high res. jpeg
images and 2 low res. of the finished scarf to
show the complete scarf and a close up
detail.
• A short description (approximately 200 words)
explaining which textile methods you have used
and which Art Deco influence you have
st
responded to, is also required by March 1 ,
2014.
These will be used for Publicity
purposes and for our online gallery and
exhibition display/leaflet.
Entry Fee
A submission fee of 20 Euros per entry will be
charged to cover transport and administration costs
st
and is payable by March 1 2014. This may be paid
by Paypal to [email protected]. You may submit
more than one entry per person.
18

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